Meat roasts are typically cooked in a roasting pan in an oven. To serve the roast after cooking, the roast is generally removed from the roasting pan and transferred to a serving platter or similar dish to facilitate carving and to afford an attractive presentation of the roast. However, roasts are frequently heavy and difficult to handle. Immediately after removal from the oven, the roast is uncomfortably hot to handle, and is frequently slippery. Thus, it is desirable to use a tool to assist in lifting the roast from the roasting pan in order to avoid burning the hands or accidentally dropping the roast.
Traditionally, large forks have been employed to spear the roast for transferring it. U.S. Pat. Nos. Des. 282,898 and Des. 282,899 disclose two designs for such forks, which have short, sharp tines for spearing the roast. Such forks frequently result in damage to the roast, and are reliant on sufficient structural integrity of the roast in order to work. In the case of a heavy roast which is tender, such forks may be unable to pick up the roast, as the roast will not have sufficient structural integrity to support its weight. This situation is particularly true of large roasted poultry such as a roasted turkey or goose. Typically, a pair of forks is required, one at each end, in order to maneuver the roast properly.
U.S. Pat. No. Des. 262,859 teaches a food fork having multiple tines. The '859 patent does not teach how the fork is used; however, the multiple tines do not appear to be configured to provide support for the roast, other than by impaling the roast thereupon. The multiple tines increase the chance of damaging the roast when it is so impaled.
U.S. Pat. No. Des. 319,949 discloses an alternative design for a roast lifting tool which is S-shaped with a pointed support member. This tool is apparently intended for either spearing a roast or, in the case of roasted poultry having an internal cavity, for insertion into the internal cavity for lifting the roasted poultry. Such a device is necessarily dependent on the roast having sufficient structural integrity. Additionally, because the tool has only a single support member, the roast will be free to rotate about the axis of this support member, limiting the user's ability to maneuver the roast.
In attempting to overcome the recognized deficiencies of traditional forks and similar implements, other roast lifters have employed a rack or frame for supporting the roast, particularly for use with roasted poultry. Representative devices are taught in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,514,098; 2,593,077; 2,973,218; 3,359,889; 3,613,552; and 4,200,040. While such devices do not rely on the structural integrity of the roast and reduce the chances of damaging the roast, these devices are frequently unsightly and do not provide for ready removal of the device once the roast has been transferred to a serving platter, therefor interfering with an attractive presentation of the roast. Additionally, these devices are intended to remain in contact with the roast as it is cooked. This results in the device becoming hot as the roast is cooked, and therefor difficult to handle safely upon removal from the oven. The device of the '552 patent attempts to solve this problem by employing detachable handles, but this creates the new problem of attempting to attach the handles in the narrow confines of an oven without burning the hands.
Thus, there is a need for a tool which will provide adequate support for lifting and maneuvering a roast, which is not reliant on the structural integrity of the roast, and which is readily insertable and removable from engagement with the roast.